The keys to innovation and cures come from biopharmaceutical companies across the country, including Iowa.  

On average, companies working to identify successful cures to chronic diseases like cystic fibrosis, cancer and asthma spend $2.6 billion over 10 to 15 years to bring safe, successful products to market. This process involves intense innovation, research and persistence. Throughout this process, there are far more failures than successes, often making the cost of success even greater. Only 12 percent of drugs that enter clinical trials are approved for use by patients.  

As the presidential caucuses draw near, it is certainly hip and trendy in Iowa to throw stones at the “glass house” of corporate America.  Specifically, candidates in Iowa have taken aim at biopharmaceutical companies for “taking advantage” of desperate patients and “overinflating” the price of prescriptions. 

The reality is that members of the Iowa Biotechnology Association and biopharmaceutical companies across the country have invested more than $600 billion in the search for new treatments and cures since 2000. The biopharmaceutical industry pours as much as six times more into research and development, relative to sales, than average U.S. manufacturers. In fact, in 2014, PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America) member companies invested nearly 24 percent of domestic sales into research and development. 

And these companies are happy to do so, because these innovation – breakthrough drug discoveries – benefit those who need and deserve them most: patients. More than 7,000 drugs and treatments are in development globally right now, and a 2012 analysis of our industry’s pipeline found that 70 percent of those medicines have the potential to be first-in-class, meaning they use a completely new approach to fighting a disease.

This commitment to scientific discovery leads to groundbreaking innovations in medical advancement and patient care. Since 2000, more than 500 new medicines have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, a record 51 in 2014 alone.  

In Iowa, we need to be careful about launching these political challenges, because a variety of companies here are developing innovative solutions to some of the nation’s most serious health challenges. In Coralville, KemPharm Inc. recently closed an initial public offering for $60 million. Ames-based NewLink Genetics Corp. has recently demonstrated success in cures aimed at cancer and Ebola.

Despite the average cost of drug development, immense progress has been made. In the U.S., the HIV/AIDS death rate has fallen nearly 85 percent. Cancer death rates are down 22 percent from their peak in 1991, and the five-year survival rate has increased 39 percent across all cancer types since 1975. And new hepatitis C therapies have produced cure rates for patients above 90 percent.

These figures demonstrate that the commitment of America’s biopharmaceutical companies to solving the world’s most vexing medical challenges has never been more resolute. We certainly don’t want to send a message to Iowa companies engaged in these efforts that their work is unwelcome or undervalued.

This determination and innovation among biopharmaceutical companies is perhaps stronger than it has ever been. Let’s embrace and celebrate the work of these companies because it is great news for patients who need access to these cures.